Kitchen range hood



Jan. 3, 1967 N. P. FOX ET AL 3,295,433

KITCHEN RANGE HOOD Filed Sept. 11, 1964 INVENTORS NORMANF FOX BY WARREN H. FISCHER C. RAY THORNE MmEY United States Patent 3,295,433 KITCHEN RANGE HOOD Norman P. Fox, Springwater, N.Y., and Warren H.

Fischer and Clarence Ray Thorrie, Fayetteville, N.C.,

assignors to Fasco Industries, Inc., Rochester, N.Y., a

corporation of New York Filed Sept. 11, 1964, Ser. No. 395,688 6 Claims. (Cl. 98-115) This invention relates to a hood for use in conjunction with a kitchen range, and more particularly to an adjustable hood for collecting and exhausting cooking odors which arise from a kitchen range, stove, or the like.

Hoods of the type described have a large chamber, and are mounted with the inlet to the chamber positioned above and in registry with the range burners, and with the outlet of the chamber connected to an exhaust fan, In operation the exhaust fan draws cooking odors into the inlet, and exhausts the odors through a conventional stack to the out-of-doors.

Prior hoods of the type described have been very large, unattractive, and almost impossible to mount in a kitchen without interfering in some way with the housewifes activities. Such hoods have been designed for mounting beneath the underside of a wall cabinet, as distinguished from the wall proper; and it has been necessary to employ splash plates, separate from the hoods, for covering ex posed portions of the kitchen wall behind or adjacent the cooking surface of a stove. Moreover, these prior hoods have been difficult to clean; and because of their size have not been practical for use in smaller kitchens. Also, the flow of air through the inlet opening of such a hood tends to create a relatively concentrated, low pressure area immediately above the range, so that one standing in front of the range is subjected to an annoying draft during operation of the hood exhaust fan.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved range hood which is capable of collecting the fumes and the vapors that arise from food that is being cooked on the-range burners, yet which is compact and relatively simple in construction, so that it may be mounted in almost any kitchen regardless of its size.

Another object of this invention is -to provide an improved range hood, which is easy to clean and extremely attractive as compared to prior range hoods,

A further object of this invention is to provide an improved range hood, which may be secured directly to a kitchen wall behind or beside a kitchen range, and which does not have to be suspended from a wall cabinet above the range.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an improved range hood, which is adjustable to overlie either part or all of the burners of a kitchen range.

An additional object of this invention is to provide an improved range hood having a removable splash plate, which protects the wall upon which the hood is mounted, and which is easily removed from the hood proper for cleaning or to gain access to the hood exhaust fan.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from the specification and from the recital of the appended claims, particularly when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing.

In the drawing:

, FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a hood made in accordance with one embodiment of this invention, parts thereof being cut away and shown in section, the hood being shown mounted on a kitchen wall above a conventional range which is shown fragmentarily only; and

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the hood, parts thereof being broken away and shown in section.

The novel range hood disclosed herein comprises a housing having a rear wall, an upper wall which extends at right angles outwardly from the rear wall, and a front wall, which is inclined downwardly and rearwardly from the front wall toward the rear wall. The front wall is rectangular, and is removably mounted over a rectangular opening, which is slightly larger than the front wall, so that the latter is surrounded by a narrow gap or space.

In use the housing is mounted above a range so that its front wall overlies the rear burners on the range. An exhaust fan in the housing draws cooking odors into the housing through the narrow space surrounding the front wall, and exhausts the odors out-of-doors in a conventional manner. Moisture rising from the range condenses on the front wall and is collected in a trough along the lower edge thereof. A drawer is mounted in the top of the housing. It has an opening in it which communicates with the exhaust fan, and overlies the front burners in the range, when the drawer is pulled out, to draw off fumes arising from food, which is being cooked on the front burners.

Referring now to the drawing by numerals of reference, the novel range hood 11 illustrated, comprises a sheet metal housing 13 having a flat rear wall 15, and a pair of spaced, generally right triangular side walls 17 and 18. The sidewalls 17 and 18 project at right angles forwardly from the front face of wall 15; and the rear wall 15 is bent forwardly at its lower edges beneath the lower ends of the sidewalls, and slightly upwardly to form a trough 19 at the bottom of housing 13. The upper edges of the side walls 17 and 18 register with the upper edge of the rear wall 15; and their forward edges are inclined downwardly and inwardly toward the trough 19 at the bottom of the housing 13. At their lower ends the side walls 17 and 18 close opposite ends of the trough 19; and at their front edges they are bent inwardly toward one another to form elongate flanges 21 and 22, respectively.

Secured to and closing off the upper end of the housing 13, and projecting forwardly beyond the side walls 17 and 18 is an inverted, generally U-shaped sheet metal cover plate 30. Plate 30 is open at its forward end, and is closed at its rear end by a downwardly extending flange or vertical panel 26, which registers with the rear wall 15 of housing 13. The downwardly projecting sides 31 and 32 of the cover plate 30 register with the housing side walls 17 and 18. At the open end of plate 30 the lower edges of its sides 31 and 32 are connected by a horizontal plate 24 (FIG. 1), which extends rearwardly only partway toward the rear housing wall 15. At its forward edge the plate 24 is bent or flanged vertically upwardly as at 28; and at its rear edge it is provided with a diagonally downwardly extending flange or lip 27. Secured to the forward face of the flange 27 is a pair of spaced, upwardly directed hook members or hangers 29, the purpose of which will be described in more detail below.

Rotata'bly rnounted on the inside face of each cover side 31 and 32 adjacent the forward edge thereof, and vertically spaced slightly above the lower edge thereof, is a plastic roller 33. The two rollers 33 are rotatable about a common, horizontal axis.

Mounted beneath the cover plate 30 for sliding movement into and out of the forward, open end of the cover plate 30 is a slidable, inverted drawer designated generally at 35. Drawer 35 comprises an inverted, generally U-shaped sheet metal plate 36 and a front wall 39. The downwardly projecting sides of plate 36 are bent intermediate their heights to form guideways 37 and 38, which slide upon the rollers 33, when the drawer 35 is moved in or out. Rotatably mounted oneach side of rawer 35 adjacent the rear end thereof is a plastic roller 4, which rolls along the underside of cover plate 30, 'hen the drawer is moved in or out. The front wall 39 f the drawer abuts the forward edge of the cover plate when the drawer 35 is in its closed position as shown 1 FIG. 1, but remains slightly spaced, as shown at 40, om the flange 28 on plate 24.

Removably mounted in the front of the housing 13 etween its side walls 17 and 18, and disposed in a plane ontaining the flanges 21 and 22 of the housing side walls, a flat, rectangular plate 51 of stainless steel or the like. his plate is adapted to be secured removably to housing 3 to close the front thereof. To this end its upper edge l bent rearwardly and downwardly (FIG. 1) to form a ook flange 52, which is removably engageable in the ooks 29. The lower edge of plate 51 is bent rearwardly FIG. 1) to form thereon a flange 53, which registers 'ith a pair of hook members or hangers 54 that are :cured to the inside face of the housing wall 15 adjacent 1e trough 19. Each of the hooks 54 at its free end is dapted to project upwardly through a slot 55 in the ange 53, when the plate 51 is suspended from the hooks 9 as shown in FIG. 1.

Removably secured by a plurality of brackets 61 to 1e inside face of the housing wall 15 is an exhaust fan ousing 62. Secured to the top of the fan housing 62 and rojecting upwardly beneath the cover plate 30, and rearardly of the drawer 35, is a sheet metal exhaust duct 65. kt its lower end the duct 65 communicates with the in- :rior of the fan housing 62, and at its upper end is proided with an opening 66, which registers with an open- 1g 67 formed in the plate 26. The front of the fan ousing 62 has therein an opening (not illustrated) over hich a conventional, washable filter 68 is removably ecured by a wing nut 69. Housing 62 contains a conentional centrifugal fan 60 the intake side of which conronts the filter 68, and the exhaust of which communiates with the duct 65.

Mounted in conventional manner on the plate 24 adicent its front flange 28 are two, spaced lamp fixtures, ach of which contains a. bulb 71, only one of which is hown in FIG. 1. Each bulb 71 registers with a transarent lens 72, which is mounted in an opening in plate 4 beneath each bulb 71 to direct light therefrom downlardly past the plate 51. The fan in the housing 62, nd the lamps 71 mounted on the plate 24 are adapted 3 be wired in a conventional manner to standard On-Off witches 73 and 74, respectively, which are mounted in recess formed in-the face of plate 39.

The hood 11 is adapted to be mounted on a kitchen Iall W so that the removable plate 51 overlies a kitchen ange or stove R in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1, zith the aligned openings 66 and 67 communicating trough an opening A in the wall with a chimney or uct leading outdoors. The plate 51 is slightly smaller Jan the opening in the front of the housing 13 so that s four edges 81, 82, 83, 84 (FIG. 2) are slightly spaced tom the confronting side wall flanges 21 and 22, the unerside of plate 24, and the trough 19, respectively. In ractice the plate 51 is substantially as wide as the cookig surface of the range R; and the depth of the hood 11 t such that the inclined plate 51 will overlie the rear urners X of the range R, and the drawer 35 will overlie to front burners Y on the range R, only when the drawer pulled out to its open position as illustrated by the roken lines in FIG. 1.

In use, if only the rear burners X on the range R are eing employed, the drawer 35 is placed in its closed or )lid line position as shown in FIG. 1, and the switch 73 1 moved to its ON position to energize the fan in the ousing 62. (If desired, the lamp switch 74 may also e moved to its ON position to energize the lamps 71.) he fan creates a vacuum in the housing 13 so that air drawn into the housing around all four edges of the late 51, and through the space 40 at the bottom of the 4 drawer 35, thereby drawing off the fumes which arise from the food being cooked on the rear burners of the range. Steam arising from the range will condense on the outside face of the plate 51 and drip down into the trough 19 from which it will in time evaporate, or from which it may be wiped manually. The fumes that are drawn into the housing 13 pass through the filter 68 and are exhausted by the fan through the duct 66 to the outdoors.

If the front burners Y, or both the front and rear burners on the range R are being used, the drawer 35 is drawn manually outwardly to itsopen position as shown by the broken lines in FIG. 1, whereby fumes arising from food, that is being cooked on the front burners will pass into the duct defined by the inverted drawer 35, the plate 24, and the plate 30, and then through the opening in the top of housing 13 between the duct 65 and the rear edge of plate 24 to the fan. When closed, however, the front plate 39 on the drawer almost seals the opening in the front of the cover plate 30 so that most of the fumes will have to pass into the housing 13 around the four edges of the plate 51. Any excess fumes, which might otherwise spill over and stain the front of the closed The compact design of the hood permits readily accessible kitchen cupboards C to be mounted on the wall W above the hood. Very often such cupboards are not employed because, in the absence of a hood 11 of the type disclosed herein, such cupboards tend to cause fumes to collect above the stove, and tend readily to become grease laden or otherwise soiled as a result of constant exposure to cooking fumes arising from the range R. Hood 11, however, will protect both the wall W and the cupboards C from undesirable smoke stains.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the illustrated hood 11 is exceptionally compact, efiicient, and.

far more presentable in appearance than prior hoods. By utilizing an adjustable duct in the form of the slidable drawer or cowling 35, the novel hood incorporates all the advantages of prior hoods of a larger size, but at the same time permits a far more eflicient use of available wall space in the average kitchen. The control switches 73 and 74 mounted on the front wall 39 of the drawer 35 are readily accessible, so that it is unnecessary to reach over hot surfaces or air streams to operate them. Moreover, the plate 51, which is easily removable for cleaning, tends to condense an drain into the trough 19 steam and grease laden vapors, which might otherwise soil the surrounding kitchen walls, or which might otherwise overburden the filter 68 positioned over the intake side of the fan housing. Also, the peripheral draw or vacuum created around the edges of the plate 51 produces a rectangular air barrier which registers with the outside or marginal edges of the burner surface, so that one standing in front of the range is not subjected to a draft of the type common to prior hoods having center openings.

While the exhaust duct 65 in the illustrated embodiment is connected to a horizontal wall duct A, it is to. be understood that it may be designed to exhaust out of' and the switches 73 and 74 thereon are adapted to be.

connected to the fan motor and the lamps, respectively, by readily separable terminals. The lamps 7-1, which are accessible for replacement upon removal of the.

drawer 35, direct light in 'a downward direction through.

the lenses 72 to provide excellent lighting of the cook ing surface on the range, and casual lighting of the kitchen area.

While the invention hastbeen described in connection with a specific embodiment thereof, it will be understood that it is capable of further modification, and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth, and as fall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. A hood for exhausting fumes arising from a kitchen range, comprising:

(a) a housing adapted to be mounted above a kitchen range,

(b) a plate mounted in registery with an opening in the front of said housing to be inclined rearwardly downwardly,

(c) said plate being spaced around its perimeter slightly from the sidewalls of said housing,

(d) a duct mounted on said housing above said plate and having a fixed section communicating with the interior of said housing, and a movable section telescoping into said fixed section and reciprocable between an inoperative position in which said movable section is enclosed in said fixed section, and an operative position in which said movable section projects outwardly from said housing beyond said plate,

(c) said movable section having therein an opening which is disposed outside of said housing, when said movable section is in its operative position,

(f) an exhaust fan mounted in said housing and operable to create a vacuum in said housing to draw cooking fumes into the housing through the space surrounding said plate, and through said opening in said movable section, when the latter is in its operative position, and

(g) an exhaust duct communicating with said fan to convey away the fumes which are drawn into said housing.

2. A hood as defined in claim 1 wherein a trough projects forwardly beneath the lower edge of said plate to catch any moisture dripping therefrom.

3. A hood as defined in claim 1, including (a) means removably mounting said plate on said housing, and

(b) a housing for said fan mounted in the first-named housing, and having an outlet opening connected to said exhaust duct, and an inlet opening communicating with said opening in said first-named housing, and

(c) a filter removably secured over the inlet side of said fan housing to be readily accessible upon the removal of said plate.

4. A hood for exhausting fumes arising from a kitchen range, comprising (a) a housing adapted to be secured above a kitchen range, and having a rear wall and a pair of laterally spaced sidewalls projecting forward from said rear wall,

(b) a rigid rectangular plate removably secured across a rectangular opening in the front of said housing and disposed between said side walls in a plane inclined rearwardly downwardly with respect to said rear wall,

(c) the perimeter of said plate being spaced slightly from the edges of said opening,

(d) an exhaust fan mounted in said housing and operable to create a vacuum in said housing to draw cooking fumes thereinto through the space surrounding said plate,

(e) an exhaust duct communicating with said fan to convey away the fumes drawn into said housing, and

(f) a duct mounted on said housing above said plate, and comprising (1) a stationary section, which communicates at its rear with the interior of said housing, and which projects at its front slightly beyond the upper edge of said plate, and

(2) a movable section telescopically slidable in said stationary section between an inoperative position in which said movable section is disposed within said stationary section, and an operative position in which it projects forwardly from said stationary section,

(3) said movable section having therein an opening which lies outside said stationary section when said movable section is in its operative position.

5. A hood as defined in claim 4 wherein (a) at least one lamp is mounted on said stationary section adjacent its front end to direct light downwardly past said plate, and

(b) a switch for controlling the operation of said lamp is mounted on said movable section.

6. A hood as defined in claim 4, wherein said stationary section has therein a slot at its front end, which extends parallel to said upper edge of said plate, and which communicates with the interior of said housing, when said movable section is in its inoperative position.

References Cited by the Exmner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,535,707 12/1950 Vezey 98115 2,750,867 6/1956 Meyer 98-115 2,862,437 12/1958 Smith-ct al. 98--115 3,031,946 5/1962 Watt et al. 98115 3,064,549 11/1962 Newton h 98-49 ROBERT A. OLEARY, Primary Examiner. A, Assistant Examiner, 

1. A HOOD FOR EXHAUSTING FUMES ARISING A KITCHEN RANGE, COMPRISING: (A) A HOUSING ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED ABOVE A KITCHEN RANGE, (B) A PLATE MOUNTED IN REGISTERY WITH AN OPENING IN THE FRONT OF SAID HOUSING TO BE INCLINED REARWARDLY DOWNWARDLY, (C) SAID PLATE BEING SPACED AROUND ITS PERIMETER SLIGHTLY FROM THE SIDEWALLS OF SAID HOUSING, (D) A DUCT MOUNTED ON SAID HOUSING ABOVE SAID PLATE AND HAVING A FIXED SECTION COMMUNICATING WITH THE INTERIOR OF SAID HOUSING, AND A MOVABLE SECTION TELESCOPING INTO SAID FIXED SECTION AND RECIPROCABLE BETWEEN AN INOPERATIVE POSITION IN WHICH SAID MOVABLE SECTION IS ENCLOSED IN SAID FIXED SECTION, AND AN OPERATIVE POSITON IN WHICH SAID MOVABLE SECTION PROJECTS OUTWARDLY FROM SAID HOUSING BEYOND SAID PLATE, (E) SAID MOVABLE SECTION HAVING THEREIN AN OPENING WHICH IS DISPOSED OUTSIDE OF SAID HOUSING, WHEN SAID MOVABLE SECTION IS IN ITS OPERATIVE POSITON, (F) AN EXHAUST FAN MOUNTED IN SAID HOUSING AND OPERABLE TO CREATE A VACUUM IN SAID HOUSING TO DRAW COOKING FUMES INTO THE HOUSING THROUGH THE SPACE SURROUNDING SAID PLATE, AND THROUGH AID OPENING IN SAID MOVABLE SECTION, WHEN THE LATTER IS IN ITS OPERATIVE POSITION, AND (G) AN EXHAUST DUCT COMMUNICATING WITH SAID FAN TO CONVEY AWAY THE FUMES WHICH ARE DRAWN INTO SAID HOUSING. 